What to do with Daylight
by jellyjay
Summary: It does not take a great mathematician to weigh a simple decision between a life in hiding and a life with true friends. Drabble series thing. Zutara.


**Hey Guys!**

**No, I haven't died yet – I just had a massive case of Writer's Block. Anyway, this fic-drabble series-thing was inspired by Kiwi Singer, Brooke Fraser and her songs. It has been posted on the katarazuko LJ community and is dedicated to Stranded Hero, who typed up the dialogue for the Season Finale trailer for me.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**-----------------------------------**

**Arithmetic**

It does not take a great mathematician to weigh a simple decision between a life in hiding and a life with true friends.

"Zuko, come with us."

Zuko wonders how the three words following his name can have so much of an impact on him. They are only words, after all – why is it that they hold so much meaning?

And why is it that this girl, Katara, can simply hold her hand out for _him, _of all people, to take? After all he had put them through, the girl can still put it all behind her and act like none of it ever happened. Why? How?

"Zuko, we need your help… please, come with us."

It does not take a great mathematician to weigh such a simple decision.

So after one last moment of hesitation, Zuko looks up into Katara's azure gaze, takes a deep breath, and then reaches for her outstretched hand.

**Saving the World**

"If anyone wants to leave, go now. I'm not dragging anyone into this if they don't want me to, because… well, this is it, really. There's no turning back after this." Aang glances anxiously around at his friends waiting for anyone of them to respond, and it is only after several lengthy seconds that someone does speak up.

"Why would any of us want leave _now_?" asks Katara. "The five of us got here together and that's the way we're going to finish it, right guys?" It is her turn to glance around the group. Both Sokka and Toph nod silently when she faces them, but Zuko hesitates when she turns to face him.

Katara knows what he's thinking and she smiles. "Yes, Zuko, you too."

Zuko returns her smile after a moment before turning to Aang and nodding. "She's right, Aang. We're all in this together."

**Still in Love**

"So… this is it, huh? We may not see each other for a long time once you leave…" Zuko trails off uncertainly as he watches Katara pack the last of her things.

The war ended no longer than two months ago; Zuko is the new Fire Lord and the world is at peace once again. Now there is nothing left for Katara to do but to return home and move on with her life.

She sighs. "Yeah…" she says rather breathlessly, slinging her bag over her shoulder. "It's… it's been fun Zuko… keep in touch, okay?"

Zuko nods, noticing how small her voice sounds, and how he thinks he can hear the smallest tremor, vaguely alerting him of unshed tears. He forces a smile and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. "Have a safe trip Katara - send me a messenger hawk as soon as you arrive."

She nods silently in reply. "I guess… I guess I'll see you around then…"

She turns to leave while a voice in Zuko's head screams at him to do something – _anything_ – and suddenly he finds that he has grabbed her hand, pulling her back into him and pressed his lips to hers.

It is a quick kiss, a chaste one, but it is then and there that Katara realises how long she has been love with the young Fire Lord.

**Lifeline**

Now that he is Fire Lord, Zuko realises how terribly boring his lordly duties are. He doesn't know what possessed him to think that this job was a good job when he was younger; he figures he knows better now.

Not only this, but Zuko has been feeling somewhat down as of late. As a matter of fact, he has been like this since the Water Tribe siblings left with the Avatar, and Uncle Iroh, who just _happens _to notice these things, decides that he is going to find out why (as curious uncles do).

"Uncle," replies Zuko, "being the Fire Lord is _not _the easiest job in the world – I'm sure you know that."

Iroh snorts mentally. He is not blind. "But nephew, you seem so…" Iroh pauses, wondering how to continue, "You seem so _lonely_."

Zuko blinks, feigning innocence. "Don't really know how you came to that conclusion, but I assure you, uncle, I am not _lonely_."

Iroh eyes his nephew thoughtfully, carefully examining his facial expression, and after a moment, he sighs. "You are drowning, my nephew."

"Excuse me?"

"You are drowning – and your lifeline is nowhere in sight." And with that, Iroh takes his leave, leaving his nephew feeling both stunned and confused in his own throne room.

**Waste Another Day**

The South Pole, Katara notes, is not the barren ice cube it was when she and Sokka first left it to find Aang. She is proud to see that where once was a dying village, now stands a prospering city, and what makes her feel even prouder is that Master Pakku approached her at once when she arrived:

"Welcome home, Katara," he had said, "It's thanks to you that we were able to rebuild it."

She is happy to be home, of course, but now that she is, she can't help but feel that something is somewhat missing. It is only when she is reminded of the feeling of warmth on her lips that she realises what it is.

"Is it wrong," she asks her grandmother, "to want to go back to a place where I don't really belong? To go back to that place when everyone else who loves me is here? Am I taking them for granted if I want to leave them?"

Gran-gran says nothing at first, but after a moment, she smiles and places her wrinkled hands on her grand daughter's shoulders. "I can't answer that, my dear," she says, "you should really try to find the answer to that question on your own."

"But Gran-gran – "

"Follow your heart, Katara, don't waste another day on doubt – follow your heart."

**Without you**

"When did you decide on leaving?"

Katara jumps and drops her bag, spinning around to see that her brother and father have entered the room.

"Dad! Sokka! I… um…" She stumbles upon her words not knowing how to put her sentence together, so after three seconds more of stuttering, she gives up and offers them a cheesy grin. "Could you… erm… knock, next time?"

Sokka can't help but snort. He pushes himself off the wall and approaches his sister, plopping himself carelessly onto her bed. "Do you really have to leave? We only just got back two months ago."

Katara shrugs. "It's just… something feels like it's missing here, you know?"

"And you think you'll find that something in the Fire Nation?" asks her father.

Again, Katara shrugs, thinking of no better answer.

"You can stop pretending it's not Zuko you miss," says Sokka, smirking. "Practically everyone knows that you miss him."

Katara blushes and looks away. "I guess I'm just not the same without him," she mumbles, barely loud enough for the two men to hear, and the next thing she knows is that her father has placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It won't be the same _here_ without _you_," he says. He pulls his daughter into a hug and then places a fatherly kiss upon her forehead. "Safe trip, Katara. BE good and look after yourself, alright?"

**Reverie**

Zuko has been Fire Lord for almost half a year already, and the tiny liking he has for his job is diminishing steadily.

It is very boring having to listen to his advisors rant continuously about how to run _his _country, and he finds that it is not very nice working late into the night simply because of _paperwork_. A Fire Lord shouldn't have to do _any _paperwork at all, but his uncle insists that he do it to make sure that he remains human.

He doesn't like the way the palace servants always cower when he comes into sight, or the way the guards _never _say _anything_, and he doesn't like the way several Fire Nation noblewomen have tried to flirt their way to the Fire Nation throne.

It seems the only way to survive his job is to _daydream_ – as much as he can, whenever he can. He finds that his mind always ends up wandering to the same things; the ocean and several bodies of water, shades of blue, and the tan skin, delicate fingers and azure eyes that belong to Katara.

Zuko's not complaining, of course. He likes the subject of his daydreams, and he daydreams of her so much that when his uncle approaches him to tell him that the said girl has arrived unexpectedly; he thinks he dreamt that too.

But his mood soars so high when Katara really does walk through the throne room doors to interrupt his reverie.

**Indelible**

"Katara! You're here... this isn't another daydream is it?"

Katara grins and pries herself out of the young Fire Lord's arms. "It's good to see you too, Zuko, and no, this is not a daydream."

Zuko grins back and takes a moment to fully realise that the subject of his dreams is really standing right in front of him. In the time she's been gone, he can't quite say whether she's changed or not – what he _can _say, however, is that he has not felt this elated since before she returned home.

"Why'd you come back?" he asks, curiosity getting the better of him. "I thought you wanted to be back home?"

"I missed you," answers Katara softly. "When you… kissed me before I left… I guess it kind of changed me a little… I had to come back…"

Zuko doesn't really give a damn that the throne room is full of his advisors at the moment, nor does he give a damn about how the girl's presence interrupted a very "important" meeting. He is just glad that Katara has come back to_ him_, and before he realises it, he has planted his lips on hers just like he did before she left.

"So you missed me, huh?" he whispers, pulling away for a moment. "That's okay, I missed you too."

**Better**

"… What's this about the Fire Lord and that water peasant?"

"Haven't you heard? Apparently, they're in _love_."

"But, that's only a rumour, right?"

"'Course!"

"Good; for a second there I thought we were going to end up with that _wench _for a Fire Lady!"

"Idiots, the both of you! Why do you think she came back?"

"..."

"…"

"She's back because those '_rumours_' are true – the idiot of a Fire Lord's going to end up marrying a waterbender!"

"The hell?"

"Yep. That witch must have bewitched him or something – there's no way he could've fallen in love with her of his accord."

"If he thinks that marrying _her _will make things better for this country, then obviously we're all doomed, aren't we?"

"The only thing that will make things _better_ for this country is if that wench leaves. It's bad enough we have a coward on the throne."

_SLAM!_

"…"

"…"

"…"

"… I think she heard us."

**Scarlet**

"Katara, my dear, you look upset."

Katara looks up and leaps off the stone bench immediately in order to greet the approaching old man. "General Iroh," she says, bowing in respect, "I was just… erm…"

Iroh chuckles and takes a seat on the bench, patting the spot next to him so Katara will sit back down.

"What's wrong, Katara?" he asks, tucking his hands into his sleeves and looking straight into the girl's azure eyes.

Katara blinks. "Nothing's wrong," she lies, "why do you ask?"

Iroh chuckles again. "My dear, you and Zuko are more alike than you think. You both do not possess the skills of a good liar." He smiles warmly at her and repeats his question. "What's wrong?"

Katara sighs in defeat and turns her eyes to the ground of the palace's courtyard. "I don't belong here, do I, Iroh? Maybe I shouldn't have come back…"

Iroh thinks for a moment, and it is only after this moment that he realises why the girl is upset. "You heard some of the palace servants speaking ill of you, did you not?"

Katara mumbles something incoherent, but Iroh knows that he is right.

"Ignore them, my dear. Your mind must be swollen with thoughts about your latest decisions. For the record, you are _not _a peasant as some may say you are – you are very good friends with the Fire Lord himself – do not let the servants speak ill of you because they have no right to, alright?"

Katara looks up at him again. "What makes you say that?"

Iroh smiles knowingly. "You would look good in scarlet."

**Mystery**

Uncle Iroh has always said that love is the strongest, yet most mysterious force on the planet.

It can bring together the most unexpected people, and it can keep them together through thick and thin. One is privileged to have it, yet if they mistreat it, it could be gone the next day.

It is precious, rare and sometimes fleeting, yet it is solid, almost, enduring and changing.

Zuko has always thought that this was a cheesy train of thought and never really paid much attention to how true the philosophy is. This is simply because he is Zuko, and Zuko does not think like this. _Ever_.

However, having met Katara and having spent so much time with her, and after all they have been through together – from when he tied her to when she asked him to join them, to when she left for home after the war to when she came back, to when he asked for her hand in marriage to now, as she sleeps peacefully in his arms as his wife - then maybe Uncle Iroh's philosophy isn't that cheesy any more.

Because Uncle Iroh has always said that love is _the_ strongest, yet _the_ most mysterious force on the planet.

Now, Zuko can't agree more.

(It's a mystery how Zuko's opinion of the matter has changed so much.)

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**Choppy pace, I know, but this is the first thing I've written and posted in months – bear with me.**

**Boost my confidence by reviewing, guys, so I can write the stories that are well overdue. **

**JJ**


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